Multiple record phonograph



April 9, 1946. J. ERWQQD -l-AL 2,397,932

ONOGRAPH I figg April 9, 1946. 1 ERWOOD -r AL 2,397,932

MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH Filed April 10, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 69 f A i 775 April 9, 1946.

J. ERwooD ET AL 2,397,932

MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH Filed April 10, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 n, -fa/ En April 9, 1946- J. ERWOOD ET AL 2,397,932

MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH Filed April 10, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 9, 1946. J. ERwooD ET Al.

MULTIPLE RECORD PHQNOGRAPH Filed April 1o. 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 BIIVI'L'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHH! @ff/Off@ @5y/W r April 9, 1946. 1 ERWOOD ET AL Y 2,397,932

MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPH Filed April l0, 1959 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Apr. 9, 1946 MULTIPLE RECORD PHONOGRAPB Joseph rwood and Harold Holter, Chicago, Ill.,

asslgnor,

by mesne assignments, to J. P.

Seeburg Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a'corporation of Illinois Application April l0, 1939, Serial No. 266,958

Claims. (Cl. 274--l0)' f Figs. 20 and 21 are sectional details takenon This" invention is directed to that classici phonographs designed for the successive playing of a stack of records. which makes provision for suspending the stack in position above the turntable and in releasing the lowermost record at the proper time to descend to the turntable in preparation for the playing of the record.

The present invention is .particularly concerned with special means for supporting the stack ot records and for making provision against inequalities in the thickness of the records, or irregularities due to warping or the like.

Further objects and details will appear from the description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the phonograph showing the tone arm swung to its outermost position;

Fig. 2 ls a plan view showing the position of the parts at the instant of dropping the record;

Figs. 3 and 4 are details of the releasing mechanism for the records in varying positions of adjustment;

Fig. 5`is a side elevation of the releasing mechanism and support therefor;

Figs. 6 and I are details illustrating the automatic adjustment of the arresting blade to arrest a stack including Iwarped records or records of varying thickness;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the arresting blade;

Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 5:-

Fig. 10 is an inverted plan view looking upwardly from beneath the turntable, showing in particular the cam and connections for actuating the record releasing mechanism, and also showing in part the means for swinging the tone arm;

Fig. 11 is a. detail showing the means provided for adjusting the swing of the tone arm either for ten inch or twelve inch records;

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are details of the cam and associated parts for controlling the swing of the tone arm and also illustrating a. portion of the mechanism for releasing the records. the same being shown at different stages in the operation; V

Figs. 15 and 16 are details taken on lines I5 and I6 of Figs. 12 and 13, showing the means provided for engaging the record releasing mechanism with the cam for effecting such release;

Figs. 17 and 18 are sectional elevations of the tone arm and the means for lifting and swinging the same:

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the saddle and associated parts for swinging the tone arm;

line 20 of Fig. 13, showing the means tor releasing the tone arm after needle engagementwit the rim of a, record; f

Fig. 22 is a sectional detail showing the buttons and associated mechanism provided for adjusting the machine to ten inch or twelve inch records, and for manually disabling the automatic operation or releasing records which it is not desired to play; and

Figs, 23, 24, 25 and 26 are details of the tone arm socket and needle inserting means.

'I'he phonograph as awhole is mounted within a box which provides a housing for the operating mechanism, and above the box is located a turntable 3| and a tone arm 32. -Thevstack of records to be played is suspended in position above the turntable and the records are mounted upon a centrally disposed spindle 33 so that each record when released will slide down into properly centered position uponthe turntable or upon previously deposited records carriedl by the turntable. Thus, as the records are successively deposited, the stack above will be depleted andthe stack upon the turntable will be augmented, and in view of this circumstance the lift of the tone arm must be sufficient toy clear thev maximum height of the complete stack when deposited upon the turntable.

Record supporting mechanismA v The release of the lowermost recordis eected in each instance by the oscillation of al` supporting blade 34 which when swung as in,Fig.v3.-`will underlie the lowermost record of the stack; The action of the supporting blade is supplemented by the action of a, separating blade 35`whichris mounted slightly above the supporting blade and in position to swing inwardly between the lowermost record and the one immediately above y"in order to retain the remainder of the stack when the lowermost record is released. The blade 35 is provided with a knife edge 36 to aiord easy entrance between the records, and both of the blades are supported in the manner best illustrated in Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive.

It will be understood that the releasing mechanism herein described is in effect a record escapement and is duplicated at diametrically opposite sides of the turntable, but the description of one of these escapements will suillce for both. f

The supporting blade 34 is rigidly securedvto a .65 tubular head 31 which is carried at the upper end crossgrooves 4|, 4|, either oi' which may be adiusted to engage a cross pin 42 extending through the oscillating shaft 38. Furthermore, the acting knife edge 36 of the separating blade is rounded to afford an inner hump 43 which engages between twelve inch records, and an outer hump 44 congured to engage between ten inch records, the latter having a more extended inward swing than the former, as will be apparent from Fig.'3, which illustrates a twelve inch recordin full lines and a ten inch record in a,dot and dash line.

The separating blade 35 is carried by a hub 45 which is journalled upon a post 46 upwardly extending from the tubular head 31, and shouldered at 41 to receive the thrust of a spring 48, the upper end of which bears against a disk 49 mounted upon the post and above the upper terminus of the hub. V'I'hese parts are enclosed-by a cap 50 carried by the hub 45. The lower face of the hub is provided' with depending wedge shaped lugs 5| separated by recesses 52 which coact with one or more'bosses 53 formed on the upper surface of the tubular head 31, the arrangement being such that, in the event the knife edge of the separating blade engages the edge of a record during the inward swing of the blade rather than the gap between adjacent records, the separating blade is held stationary while the tubular head 31 of the supporting blade 34 continues to rotate. The bosses 53 moving relatively, the inclined surfaces offthe lugs 5| cam up the separating blade 35 (Figs. 6 and '7) sufciently to clear the edge of the lowermost record and slip into the stack above the lowermost record in order to retain the remainder of the stack while the lowermost record is being dropped. 'I'he separating blade being subject to the thrust of the spring 48 will thus yield sufficiently to accommodate lthe condition mentioned.

However, it is essential to allow only a limited independent rotation between the supporting blade and the separating blade, and to meet this requirement the inner end of the supporting blade is provided with an arcuate groove 54 (Fig. 8) which terminates in slots 55 and 56, the former of `which establishes the proper correlation between the blades for ten inch records, while the latter is adapted for twelve inch records.

The inner end of the separating blade is provided with a pin 51 which when the blade islowthereto a. tubular member 90 provided on its inl ered will enter either the slot or the slot 56 as the case may be, so that the rotative freedom of the separating blade will be limited by the length of the slot, it being understood, however, that' by manual adjustment the pin 51 can be elevated sufficiently to swing through the groove 54 in order to set the separating blade at the proper angle for records of the intended size. The s1ots|55 and 56 are made long enough, however, to allow sulcient rotationto giveto the separating blade the required lift to nd entrance between records of unusual thickness or irregular edge contour. A finger 58 struck upwardly from the inner edge 59 of the supporting blade 34 cooperates with indicia on the arcuate inner edge 60 of the separating to indicate the size ofthe record for which the blade 35 is set. The blade 3 5 is recessed at 6| to admit the finger 58.

Tone arm mechanism `At the bend of the elbow the tone arm is pivoted upon a cross pintle 64 carried by the head 65 of a tone arm shaft 66, which extends through a journal sleeve 61 rigidly mounted upon a boss 68 formed on the upper surface of the top plate 69 of the box 30. The journa1 sleeve is provided with a threaded extension 10 which receives nuts 1| for rigidly holding the sleeve in position, and `below said extension the tone arm shaft is entered freely through a collar 12 provided on each side with trunnion mountings 13 upon which the wings 14 of a saddle 15 are mounted, thus permitting the saddle to have a .limited tilting movement, which is necessary in the lifting of the tone arm and the engagement oi" the parts with the cam for swinging the tone arm across the face of the turntable.

` The saddle comprises a body portion 16 from which the wings extend laterally, which body por tion is provided with an inwardly extending arm 11 having on its end a depending cam roller 18 which is adapted, when the saddle is tilted, to engage with a cam groove .19 in the upper surface of a constantly rotating main gear 80. The cam groove comprises a circumferentially extending portion 8| whichmerges at one end into an inwardly extending portion 82 terminating in an enlarged recess 83 in the face of the main gear. The opposite end of the groove portion 8| is flared at its point of entrance 84 into the recess,

and the inner wall 85 of the groove is rounded and extends inwardly in a radial direction, the arrangement being one which serves to guide the cam roller 16 when depressed into the recess 83 until it enters the throated mouth 84 of the circumferentially extending portion 8| of the cam groove.

'I'he saddle below the arm 11 is provided with a pair of spaced ears 86 between which is pivoted a bell crank member 81 mounted upon a pintle 88 and carrying a, roller 89 at its lower end. The upper end of the bell crank member has pivoted terior with a spring 9| which bears against the head 92 of a, thrust rod 93 which acts against a bridge plate 94 on the under side of the tone arm, and the upper end of the thrust rod is guided through an aperture 95 at. the outer end of an arm 96 terminating in a collar 91 rigidly secured to the tone arm shaft 66.

The `tone arm shaft has rigidly aiiixed thereto near its lower end a plate 98 provided with an arm 99 terminating in an upturned finger |00 which lies between ears |0 |0| formed on superposed disks |02 loosely mounted upon the tone arm shaft. Between the ears |0| is located a downturned finger |03 formed at the outer end of a base plate |04 which is rigid with the base of the collar 12. Each of-the superposed disks |02 is provided on its outer edge with an upturned ear |05, which ears are cross connected by a spring |06, and in addition the ear |05 on the uppermost disk has also connected thereto an obliquely upwardly extending spring |01 (Fig. 18) connected at its upper end to the top plate 69 of the phonograph box. A spring |08 connects the plate |04 with an ear |09 on one end of the wings of the saddle, which normally imparts an uptilt- ,ing movement to the arm 11.

The arrangement of these parts is such as -to interpose a yielding connectonin either direction between the collar 12, which when the parts are operating is in unyielding engagement with the groove 8|, and the tone arm shaft, so that the latter may yield under spring tension if subjected to manual or accidental pressure without tending to jamb or injure the operating mechanism. Likewise, the tone arm will be yieldingly supported by the thrust rod 93.

The base plate |04 has inwardly projecting therefrom an arm provided at its end with an ear through which is entered a trip contact screw ||'2 (Figs. 12, 13 and 14). When the tone arm is swung inwardly during its terminal movement the trip contact is brought into engagement with a finger ||3 connected with 'a bell crank latch ||4 having a hooked finger ||5 which is adapted to engage with a notched lug- 6 on the upper face of a control bar ||1 pivoted on a pintle ||8 entered through a lower frame plate ||9 which lies below the plate 69, being connected therewith at intervals by the provision of hanger iianges |20.

The pivoted control bar at its outer end is provided with an arcuate cam head 2| the edge of which is adapted to engage the roller 89 to impart the required tilting movements to the saddle and associated parts. The control bar lies below the plane of the main cam gear 80, which in Figs. 12, 13 and 14 has been partially broken away to reveal the underlying mechanism. The control bar when released is drawn back by a coil spring |22 having its end secured to a, xed bracket |23 on the plate H9. The control bar carries a trip nger |24 secured thereto by a pivot |25, and normally thrown back as in Fig. 13 by the pull of a spring |26 having its end secured to the control bar.

The trip finger |24 edge shaped at its outer end |21 and rides murine of a control cam |28 mounted upon a shaft |29 which also carries the main gear. The control cam throughout its major extent is circular, and on one side is provided with a depression |30 terminating in an abrupt shoulder |3|.

The conguration of the control cam in relation to the trip nger |24 is such that when the control bar is unlatched and drawn to the right by the pull of the spring |22, the free end of the trip nger will lie in the path of the abrupt shoulder |3| of the cam, so that when the parts are engaged the finger will be projected and caused to ride upon the circular portion of the control cam as in Fig. 12, which relationship of the parts will continue until the depression |30 in the cam is reached, prior to which time the control bar will be swung to the left, which causes its arcuate head to engage with the saddle roller 89, imparting a tilting movement to the saddle during the interval while the tone arm is elevated and swinging from its innermost to its outermost position, and thence back to its starting point near the rim of the record. It is this tilting movement of the saddle which imparts an upward lift to the thrust rod 93 and a. downtilting of the arm 11 which brings the roller (or pin) 18 into engaging relation with the depression and cam groove on the upper surface of the main gear.

When the depression |30 in the control cam reaches the trip nnger |24, the latter will be released and drawn back into the oblique position shown in Fig. 13 which will allow the latch hook ||'to hold the control bar in the position shown in that figure, which releases the saddle roller from .contact with the cam head of the control bar and breaks connection between the roller 18 and the cam groove on the main gear, so that with the operating train thus broken the tone arm is free to travel inwardly with the needle upon the record line while the driving mechanism runs idly until the parts are reengaged at the inward terminus of the movement.

In order to properly regulate the dropping of the tone arm to the rim of either a ten inch or a twelve inch record as the case may be, a draw bar |32 is employed, which is provided near its end with a notch |33 positioned to engage with a stop iinger |34 on the outer margin of the plate 98 whichis fast with the tone arm shaft 66. The draw bar is provided with extension bars |35 and |36 connected thereto by screws |31 entered through slots |38 which permit ad- `iustment of the extensions by means of a screw |39 having an inturned endy |40 connected with the bar |32, and having its free end entered through downturned ears |4| and |42 depending from the extension bars |35 and |36. Nuts |43 are provided for holding the parts in adjusted relation. The draw bar also carries an abutment block |44 which is secured by the screws |31 and is adapted to be engaged by an obliquely disposed pivoted thrust finger |45.

The extension bar |36 is provided near its outer end with a slot |46 adapted to receive the lower end of a thrust rod |41 provided with a button |48 which adjusts the draw bar for ten inch records. A similar thrust rod |49 provided with a button |50 adjusts the draw bar for twelve inch records.

The thrust rods are guided through the top plate 69 of the phonograph box and through a hanger plate |5| secured below the plate by brackets |52. Similarly mounted thrust rods |53 and |54 having buttons |55 and |56 are provided, the

rst of which is adapted to disable the automatic operation of the machine to permit records to be manually employed in the conventional manner, andthe second of which is provided for manually releasing a record at any time irrespective of the timing of. the automatic release. Each of the thrust rods isprovided with an elongated slot |51 through which extends a restoring bar |58 provided with bevel edged prongs |59 adapted, in the case of the thrust rods |41, |49 and |53, to be engaged bythe upperterminus of the associated slot |51, so that as a button is depressed the restoring bar will be moved to the right until the thrust rod is depressed suiiciently to permit the associated prong to spring into an upper slot |60. In the case of the thrust rod |54, however, the upper slot |60 is omitted.

Each of the thrust rods operates against the tension of a coil spring |6-I, and the restoring bar at its left hand end is provided with a disk |62 bearing against an interposed spring |63 which tends to move the restoring bar to the left *.vhen released. The arrangement is such that the depression of any one of the three buttons |48, |50, |55 will cause the upper end of the slot |51 to cam against the associated prong |59, moving the restoring bar to the right until the thrust rod has been depressed sufficiently to permit the prong to snap into the upper slot |60 which holds the button depressed until another button of the series is depressed, which releases the iirst button and holds the second button in depressed position. The slot |51 in the thrust rod |54 is, however, ineffective to operate the restoring bar, so that Athe button |56 will remain depressed only while sub- `an upstanding hooked finger jected to manual pressure. The right nand end of the restoring bar is entered through a slot |64 in the obliquely disposed thrust linger |45 which at its uppe r end is provided with an oifset tongue |65 entered through a slot |66 which pivots the thrust linger at its upper end. The arrangement of these parts is such that the depression of the sufficiently to permitI the end of the thrust rod |49 to clear the rear end ofthe extension bar |39,

which holds the parts in position for twelve inch i records. In either adjustment, the tone arm will swing inwardly until the stop nger |34 engages the notch |33, which is adjusted to the correct position for either ten inch or twelve inch records.

Record releasing mechanism The record releasing mechanism is controlled by a fcam grove |61 on the lower face of the main gear 80 (Figs. 10, 15 and 16). This groove coacts frame plate ||9.

The arm |69 is provided with a lower oiset |1| i and an upper oset |12, and the lower oset is congured to allow the control bar ||1 to cam under the oset |1| which lifts the arm |69 as in Fig'. 16, which thus throws up the roller |68 into engagement with the cam groove |61. The inthrow of the control bar is resisted by the spring |22. The free end of the arm |69 has pivoted thereto alink |14 which at its outer end is pivoted to a crank finger |15 which is freely mounted upon the hub |16 of a companion crank linger |11 secured by a set screw |18 to one of the record releasing shafts 38.

'I'he two crank lingers are connected by a coil n `spring |19 which is carried around a grooved` drum |80 journalled upon the lower end of the hub |16. The crank finger |11 is connected by a link 3 |8| with a crank finger |82 on the companion record releasing shaft 38. This arrangement interposes a yielding spring connection between the cam controlled connections and the shafts 38, which is desirable to prevent any breakage in the event the releasing blades become jammed or are accidentally subjected to blows or pressures.

In order to release the tone arm for inward travel along a record line immediately after the `deposit of a record, a tripbar |83 (Figi 10) is pivoted to the notchedend of the thrust bar |32,

and the free end of the trip bar is provided with |84 extending through a slot |85 in the lower frame plate (Fig. 20) which linger is adapted-to be engaged at the proper instant by the edge of the arm |69, the parts being so related that at the terminus of the movement ofthe arm it will move the trip bar |83 and release the notch |33 from engagement with the stop finger |34, thereby allowing the tone arm to swing freely in its inward movement across the surface of the record.

The phonograph is driven by a motor |86 operating through reduction gearing |81 to drive the turntable shaft |88 which is in train through gearing |89 with the main cam gear 80, so that during the normal operation of the machine the turntable and main gear will be constantly driven at properly related speeds.

Manual record release The means for manually releasing the records by the depression of the button |156 will now be described: The lower end of the thrust rod |53 is positioned to engage a crank finger |90 (Fig. l0) on the end of a rocking rod |9|, which at its opposite end is provided with an upturned nger |92 (Fig. 20), which flngerwhen rocked will engage the tail end of the linger 3 (Fig. 12) and release the latch ||4, so that by the depression of the button at any time the control bar may be throwninto action to entrain the cams with the associated mechanisms and lift and restore the tone arm to its outermost position and release a new record without waiting for th normal automatic operation to occur.

Disabling mechanism Where it is desired to disable the automatic operation of the machine, the button |55 is depressed, thereby causing the thrust rod |53 to eni with a roller |68 carried by an arm |69 pivoted at i its outer end to a pivot |10 carried by the lower l 20| for the reception of the point of a needle 202,y

gage a crank nger |93 on the end of a rocking rod |94, which carries at its opposite end a finger |95 adapted to be turned upwardly into position to engage the cam head |2| of the control bar ||1, which prevents the inward movement of the control bar necessary to ,engage the trip nger |24 with the cam shoulder |3l, so that automatic operation of the machine will be disabled and the machine may be employed as a manually operated machine in the usual manner so long as the button remains depressed.

Tone arm cradle In Figs. 23, 24, 25 and 26 is illustrated a tone arm cradle |96 for supporting the free end of the tone arm when in its outermost position. This cradle is o-f channel Shaped formation provided with an outer high wall |91 and an inner low wall |98 connected by a base plate |99 which supports 'a needle socket 200 provided with an aperture the socket being obliquely supported upon a plate 203,' the outer end of which is slightly elevated to afford the desired Obliquity.

Thevplate 203 is provided in its center with a headed stud 204 surrounded by the convolutions of a spring 205, the ends of which are entered through apertures 206 in the inner and outerl walls of the cradle. which affords a yieldable mounting for the plate 203, so that it may adapt itself to the pressure of the needle. and as the same is swung down into the socket aperture, the butt end of the needle is socketed within a block 201 in the head of the tone arm and held rigidly by a thumb screw 208. This arrangement not only provides a suitable rest or support for the tone arm but serves to protect the point of the needle, and at the same time affords a convenient means for the insertion of a needle which may be positioned point downwardly within the socket aperture, so that when the tone arm is brought into register with the butt end of the needle it may be easily inserted into position and locked by the set screw.

Operation In operation, with the stack-of records heid in elevated position'uponthe supporting blades, and with the machine in operation, the lowermost record may be automatically dropped by the depression of the button |56, which releases the latch 4, allowing the control bar to swing in- `wardly to bring the trip nger |24 into position to be engaged by the cam shoulder lll.. As the cam rotates, the control bar will be swung outwardly and into position to tilt the saddle in the manner previously described, which has the effect of elevating the tone arm and simultaneously engaging the roller I8 with the cam groove on the upper surface of the main gear.

With the parts thus engaged, the roller 'I8 will move outwardly, thereby imparting an outward swing to the tone arm until the circumferential groove portion 8| ofthe cam is encountered, which will hold the tone arm in its outermost position during the release of the first record, which is effected by the engagement of the roller |68 with the cam groove on the under surface of the main gear. This imparts the necessary rocking movements to the supporting blades to release the rst record and simultaneously arrest the descent of the remainder of the stack by the engagement of the arresting blades.

At the conclusion of the record releasing operation, the arresting blades will move outwardly allowing the stack to fall slightly behind the releasing blades, where the stack will be held during the playing of the first record. As the needle approaches its innermost position, at the terminus of the record line, it will encounter a steeply pitched inner groove in the record and be drawn inwardly to its iinal position, which terminal movement brings the contact screw H2 into engagement with the finger I I3 of the latch IH, thereby automatically releasing the control bar and initiating the seeond cycle of operations of the character first described. Thereafter, unless it is desired to manually drop one or more records, the automatic operation will continue uninterruptedly throughout the entire series and in properly timed relation.

The arcuate conguration of the cam head |2| of the control bar is such'as to afford a circular path of travel for the saddle roller 89, sothat, throughout the outward swing of the tone arm and thereafter during its short inward swing to record engaging position, the operating parts will be held in engagement with the respective cams, but this cam engagement will be terminated at the instant the trip linger |24 encounters the depression in the cam |28, so that at this instant the control arm will swing backwardly to the latched position illustrated in Fig. 13, which releases the saddle and disengages the cam actuated train of connections.

The lift of the tone arm must, of course, be sulcient to clear the uppermost record of a stack when all are deposited upon the turntable, but the weight of the tone arm will act against the ing the necessary movements in properly timed relation. Although the invention has been describe with particularity as to detail, it is not the intention to limit the invention solely to the form shown, since modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention` We claim: l. In a multiple record phonograph including a turntable and a tone arm in coacting relation therewith, means for` holding a stack of phonograph records in elevated relation above the turntable, said means comprising a plurality of rotatable upright mountings each carrying a record releasing device including a supporting blade congured to normally underlie and support a stack of records and when rotated to remove the support thus afforded, and a separating blade in superposed relation to the supporting blade and Configured to normally clear the stack of records and when rotated to enter between the lowermost record of the stack and the next succeeding record, the blades having limited relative vertical and rotative movement with respect to one another, and cam elements interposed between said blades and movable with said blades and adapted when said blades are'subjected to relative rotation to elevate the separating blade with respect to the supporting blade to accommodate records of varying thickness, the blades being rotatable tension of the spring 9|, so that in overcoming said spring tension, the descent of the tone arm will be cushioned to the desired extent so that easy contact of the needle with the record groove will be effected.

The mechanism as a whole is of comparatively simple construction, in that the operations required, both in lifting and moving the tone arm, as well as the operations required in releasing the records from the elevated stack, are all controlled by cams mounted upon opposite sides of the main gear, the shaft of which also provides a mounting for the cam |28, which regulates the timing of the control bar, and which in turn times and regulates the lifting of the tone arm.

This simpliiication of the structure enables the number of operating parts to be reduced to a minimum and affords ruggedness and precision of operation without the need for providing involved methods of power transmission in allerdin unison to release the lowermost record and retain the remaining records in the stack.

2. In a multiple record phonograph including a turntable and a tone arm in coacting relation therewith, means for holding a stack of phonograph records in elevated relation above the turntable, said means comprising a plurality of rotatable upright mountings each carrying a record releasing device including a supporting blade coniigured to normally underlie and support a stack of records and when rotated to remove the support thus aiorded, and a separating blade in superposed relation to the supporting blade and congured to normally clear the stack of records and when rotated to enter between the lowermost record of the stack and the next succeeding record, the blades having limited relative vertical and rotative movement with respect to one another, and cam elements interposed between said blades and movable with said blades and adapted when said blades are subjected torelative rotation to elevate the separating blade with respect to the supporting blade to accommodate records of varying thickness, the blades being rotatable in unison to release the lowermost record and retain the remaining records in the stack, and means for adjustably locating the separating blade with respect to the supporting blade to accommodate records of diierent sizes.

3. An escapement mechanism for automatic phonographs comprising an upper and a lower supporting member, means connecting said mem- 1 bers together for simultaneous and relative movements, the upper member being adapted to enter a stack of records supported on the lower member and above the lowermost record, and registering overlying cam means on the adjacent faces of said members, one of said cam means having an inclined plane surface whereby relative movement between the members resulting from arrestment of the upper member by engagement with the lowermost record causes the cam means to elevate the upper member into position for entry into the stack above the lowermost record.

4. An escapement mechanism for automatic phonographs comprising an upper and a. lower supporting member, means connecting said members together for simultaneous and relative movements, means limiting the relative movement between the members, the upper member being adaptedvto enter a stack of records supported on the lower member and above the lowermost record.' and registering overlying cam means on the v adjacent faces of said members, one oi' said cam means having an inclined plane surface whereby relative movement between the members resulting from arrestment o! the upper member by eni gagement with the lowermost record causes the cam means to elevate the upper member into position for entry into the stack above the lowermost record.

5. An escapement mechanism for automatic phonographs comprising an upper and a lower i supporting member, means connecting said mem- 20 bers together for simultaneous and relative movcments, means limiting the relative movement between the members, the upper member being' l adapted to enter a stack of records supported on the lower member and above theA lowermost record, registering overlying calm means on4 the adjacent faces of said members, one oi' said cam means having aninclined plane surface whereby 

